


you’re better off here

by hedahaught



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Attempt at Humor, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, GAY GAY GAY, Gay, character depth increases as story continues, i’m making nicole my own version of chloe price from life is strange, more characters will be added/talked about later, nicole is so angsty and dramatic and makes bad choices, there may be times where it’s OOC, waverly is just a smol bean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-20 14:44:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13148865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hedahaught/pseuds/hedahaught
Summary: Nicole lives a life that Waverly doesn’t understand.Waverly becomes a lighthouse for someone who she never thought needed her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Theseblankpages](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theseblankpages/gifts).



> Inspired by Aquilo’s song “You There”

Waverly prepared herself for Champ Hardy to approach her. It was the first day back at Purgatory High for her Junior Year and of course she had been hearing all about the idiotic senior having the major hots for her all summer. It’s not like she didn’t know already but Chrissy Nedley, her best friend since she was 12, definitely emphasized and teased her about it.

Frankly, she couldn’t stand Champ Hardy. Usually she went out of her way coming up with new synonyms to the word idiot in which she could call him... in her head.

First off, he always stared at her ass as she walked down the halls. Always. Secondly, last year she ended up getting paired with him on her World History assignment on World War I. The ignoramus ended up failing the class the year previous and Mr. Holden tended to have Waverly work with him on group assignments whenever he could. Sometimes it sucked being the smartest one in the class.

Anyways, said _Champ Hardy_ gave her her first B- by screwing up his portion of the assignment. Waverly had forgotten to check his work due to being late in turning it in already— thanks to Champ, of course— and he ended up switching around Central Powers and the Allied Forces. How dumb could someone be? Needless to say, Waverly was livid.

And now she has to deal with him this school year as well, stalking her around like a total creep with all of his jockstrap buddies and making crude comments about her “perfect tits.”

Sometimes she’d wish Wynonna was still in school to take the halfwit down. She really hated being the nicest girl in school—and frankly the whole town— at times but she’d like to think that she’s not a push-over.

Speaking of the devil himself, Chump Hardhead— _heh, good one Waverly_ — was on his way to her locker now, along with Davis and Joseph.

“Hey, _sexy thang_.”

“Good morning to you too, Champ.” She stared ahead into her locker, dragging out her eye roll and continued color-coordinating her books just right. Anything to get the message across that this was the last place she wanted to be right now. _Plus it’s always nice to have a neatly organized locker,_ she thought.

Champ shifted and looked at his buddies, then smirked. “ _So_ ,” he made a move to lightly grab at her waist “How was your summer, hmm?”

Waverly slammed her locker door shut and swiftly swatted the imbecile’s hand off her waist, gaining a surprised look from he and his pea-brained friends. “Touch me again and you’ll be missing a tongue to call me _‘sexy thang’_ with.”

Champ rubbed at his wrist. “Feisty... _I love it_.”

It was hopeless. Waverly shouldered her bag and stomped off down the hall to the nearest girls bathroom. She had about 10 minutes left before class anyways and being in the hallway was just more opportunity for Champ to be a harassing dick.

As she entered, her phone buzzed in her back pocket. She pulled it out and swiped at the message on her screen.

 **Chrissy:** _Hey where r u? I want to see ur ass before class!!_

 **Waves:** _Sorry! Had to escape the wrath of Halfwit Hardy and his gang of lamebrains. Meet you after second in west hallway._

 **Chrissy:** _So Champ’s still @ it, huh? His personality is shitty but he’s a hottie lol_

**Waves:** _Gross Chrissy, no._

**Chrissy:** _Meet u after second. Xoxo_

Waverly slid her phone back into her pocket right when a head of red hair and the sound of heavy boots entered the bathroom. She recognized the girl immediately to be the infamous and widely rumored Nicole Haught.

Nicole leaned up against the furthest sink and grabbed the cigarette behind her ear. She reached behind her and pulled a metal lighter out of her back pocket. Sticking the Marlboro in her mouth, she flicked the top of the lighter open and ignited the cigarette, hand shielding the flame.

All the while Waverly watched her, spaced out.

Nicole pulled the lighter away and flicked the top back with a _‘ching’_ and placed it back into her pocket. Cigarette hanging out of her mouth, she finally acknowledged the girl near her.

“What?”

Nicole’s voice pulled Waverly out of her thoughts. “Huh?”

_She really shouldn’t be smoking in here. Not only is it on school grounds but she could cause the fire alarm to go off._

“Why are you staring at me?” Nicole brought her hand up and took an inhale of the Marlboro, and rolled her eyes as she then parted her lips to release the smoke.

“You really shouldn’t be smoking in here... it could potentially cause the fire alarm to go off.”

Nicole just stared at her. “It hasn’t yet, has it?” Regardless— with one last inhale and exhale of the thing— she smashed the cigarette into the sink with her fingers, then flicked the butt into the waste bin next to her. “Happy,...?”

Nicole tried to think of the girls name but couldn’t despite knowing her face from Biology last year— a class she hardly went to. Yet Mrs. Hailey still passed her with a C- just because she knew that the girl would have to retake her class the next year if she didn’t pass— something she really didn’t want.

“It’s Waverly.” The shorter girl muttered timidly.

“Yes, well _Waverly_ , thanks for the great advice but I’m afraid it’s not going to be of any use.” Nicole walked towards her and stopped just in front of brunette, “You have yourself a good first day now.” With an another eye roll and a brush of a shoulder past her, Nicole was through the door.

Waverly slumped her head back against a stall cubicle and stared up at the bathroom ceiling.

_What is up with people being complete assholes today? But then again, you shouldn’t expect any less from Champ Hardy and Nicole Haught._

She knew better. She shouldn’t be questioning herself on the arrogance around her. It’s just fact.

With the sounding of the warning bell, Waverly recollected herself and followed Nicole’s previous footsteps out of the bathroom door.

She hoped and prayed that Horny Hardy wasn’t just outside the door waiting for her. Wouldn’t that be just a change of events.

  
—————

  
A week had passed and her first two classes— Chemistry and Math— went by in a breeze. Waverly created sort of a routine with Chrissy after the first day and made her way towards the west hallway to meet with her. She pulled out her phone to send a quick text letting her best friend know she was just passing the water fountain.

As she kept walking, head turned down and focused solely on her phone, it wasn’t a surprise she ran into something— or someone— large and strong, nearly knocking her on her ass.

She looked up to view a pissed and rushed Nicole. _Great. Her again._

“Watch where you’re going, Earp.” Nicole stormed past her and rounded the hallway corner.

_How the hell did she know my last name? She couldn’t even recall my first name the other morning._

Leaving the thought at rest, Waverly shouldered her bag comfortably on her shoulder and went to approach a waiting Chrissy.

“What was that whole fiasco about? Was that Nicole Haught?”

“Sure was. I’ve ran into her twice in the past week, literally and figuratively.” Waverly groaned. “I even have her in U.S. History.”

“Ooo, what if it’s a sign? Like the great fate gods are trying to tell you something about her!”

“You really need to chill on reading those Greek mythology books. And the fates aren’t gods. They’re three evil old ladies. Thought you’d know that considering you’ve watched Percy Jackson at least 20 million times already.”

“Whatever. Logan Lerman is hot. But that’s besides the point. Speaking of Haught, I actually got a text from Steph earlier. She has English with her and apparently she was talking about you to Doc.” It took Waverly a second to realize she was talking about Nicole and not the level of attractiveness that Chrissy deemed Logan Lerman. “She asked what your last name was and seemed quite surprised to learn that you’re Wynonna’s little sister. Apparently she knows your sister in some way or another and Steph said that she didn’t look too happy at the mention of Wynonna’s name.”

“And Steph just texted you all of this during second?” She paused. “And why was Doc there? He dropped out like 2 years ago as a Junior.”

“Chrissy overheard him saying he needed to _‘talk business’_ with Nicole. She couldn’t hear much else despite that though. Pretty sure she eavesdropped on them while they were in the hallway for a good 5 minutes before class officially started.”

“Huh. No shit.”

_What the hell does Doc have anything to do with Nicole? I swear if it’s about drugs—_

“Uh, _yes shit_ , hunny. She seems well acquainted with Doc and it’s suspicious, since you know, he’s your sisters boyfriend and all. I feel like it’s not about cheating because it’s _obvious_ that Nicole doesn’t play for that team, considering the rumors and all that. I know he’s into drugs and shit— maybe Nicole’s his dealer!”

“Okay, one, you can’t assume that of people no matter how shady they seem to be.” She thought then added, “Same goes for whatever ‘team’ she plays for. Two, I’m pretty sure Doc stopped smoking after I busted his balls on setting fire to his precious pink Cadillac if I caught him high again while he’s dating Wynonna. God knows she has too many bad influences already.”

_He wouldn’t start doing it again, would he?_

Waverly had come to trust Doc enough over the past few months since he’s been around.

Chrissy knew it was a touchy subject with Waverly considering the drug and alcohol abuse that runs in the girls family so she disregarded it entirely with a wave of her hand.

“Well whatever it is, this girl is interested in you someway or another and I’d be careful. I heard about her reputation and it doesn’t seem to be a good thing that she’s taken attention towards you. Just watch your back, Waves.”

“Despite everything said about her, I’m really not afraid of Nicole.”

“You should be. She could like, shank you, or something.”

“The probability of that happening is near to none, Chrissy. I’m sure I’m fine but it does seem a little odd about her reaction to Wynonna’s name...”

“Totally. They probably have some freaky past or something cause like Nicole’s obviously a lesbian and your sister has been pretty open about her past sexcapade experimentations—“

“Ew! Chrissy! I don’t want to hear about my sister’s active sex life. I hear it enough by just living with her. I’m just glad Gus works late at Shorty’s to not be around for it.”

God she hoped Nicole wasn’t one of Wynonna’s bi-curious endeavors in the past.

She adds as an afterthought, _Wynonna could do better than that._

“I really have to invest in some earplugs for you this Christmas.” Chrissy laughed but Waverly was dead serious in taking her by her word for the future gift.

The warning bell rang for third period.  
  
“See you at lunch?”

“Duh! We’ll try to find a more private place to sit so Hardy doesn’t come clawing at your ass like last Friday.”

Waverly rolled her eyes and waved as she turned her back and headed towards third period. U.S. History with Nicole Haught. _Fantastic._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there you have it! What's Nicole's deal? More backstory to come but for now enjoy the mystery of her! Comments and kudos are always appreciated as well as constructive criticism!


	2. Chapter 2

Waverly entered the bleak classroom and walked towards the back. She sat down her bag and took her seat next to Timothy Keller. She was never one for sitting in the front of the class— it made her anxious— and Timothy was a good friend of Waverly’s since 7th grade. He typically allowed her to copy notes from whatever class they shared together when she was out sick. One day during her Freshman year in Algebra, Timothy tried asking her out with a passed sticky note. She politely declined after class with an intense amount of awkwardness between the two. Eventually the tension between them disappeared after a couple of weeks and they were back to being “note buddies.”

Timothy was cute- smart even- but she just couldn’t see herself being with the boy. Wynonna had teased her about the incident after Waverly reluctantly told her. Wynonna sensed that something about the girl was off that day and was _dying_ to know. She had joked that Waverly was at the age of questioning her sexuality and it was _totally okay_ if Waverly was all about the “tasty taco” life. Waverly had cringed at the phrasing but the thought really never left her head, always lingering in the back of her mind the last 2 years.

“Hey, Waverly,” the blonde haired boy faced her, his freckled cheeks rising as he grinned in greeting.

“Hey, Timothy. How was your weekend?”

“Okay, I guess. I beat the new Call of Duty game and finished up the reading we had to do. Did you get question eight on the worksheet that went with it? It totally tripped me up.”

 _Shit._ She totally forgot about the homework. She spent the weekend taking care of Wynonna’s hungover ass and helping Gus around the house with cleaning.

“Umm, I actually didn’t get around to the homework…”

“ _What? Waverly Earp_ didn’t do her _homework?”_ Timothy dragged out in feign astonishment. Waverly just smiled and rolled her eyes. “So unlike you, dude.”

“Yeah, well, a girl gets busy sometimes. It’s not due till Wednesday right?”

“Yup, but shoot me a text when you finish. I’m still curious about that question.”

“Will do.”

Right then the tardy bell rang, and a few seconds later, in came Nicole Haught. 

“So nice of you to join us, Miss Haught,” Mr. Ford sarcastically stated, facing the whiteboard in which he was writing the lesson for the day on. Mr. Ford seemed to pick up on Nicole being late quite easily now since she was tardy every day last week. It was just to be expected now. Nicole just rolled her eyes and made her way to her seat by the back window on the opposite wall of where Waverly was sitting.

Waverly’s eyes followed Nicole’s movements as she slumped down into her chair and pulled out  out a small black book and fumbled with the pages, briefly revealing a page which Waverly could just barely make out to have a drawing of a tree on it. Nicole proceeded to pull out a pencil from her front pocket and engaged herself on a page, running her pencil across it every few seconds.

_Huh, so she draws. That’s... unexpected._

“Waverly Earp?” Mr. Ford calling her name pulled her out of her curious thoughts of Nicole Haught.

She looked around her and noticed that a few people were staring at her expectedly. It took her a second to figure out that the teacher was taking attendance.

“Here!” she rushed out, maybe a little too loud. She blushed from the exclamation which gained a glance and a small smirk from Nicole. Waverly caught the action from her peripheral vision. Nicole focused herself back on her sketchbook as Waverly asserted her attention to the rest of the names being called. She glanced every now and then at the redhead who was still absorbed into her drawing.

“Missy Harrington?”

“Here.”

“Nicole Haught?” No reply. Waverly glanced at Nicole again. She noticed that the girl now had earphones in, exposed by her hair tucked behind her ear which wasn’t like that before. She was bobbing her head to whatever song she was listening to and pushing the eraser into her bottom lip as she studied her drawing.

Xavier Dolls lifted his head from his book on his desk and nudged her leg with his foot. She took out an earphone and looked up. Mr. Ford was waiting for a reply. She figured it was attendance. “Dude, you _saw_ me walk in. Why’re you asking if I’m here?” 

“Well, _dude_ ,” Mr. Ford exaggerated, “ I was testing to see if you were paying any attention to which you were not— again. Meet me after class.” He gave her a pointed look in which she gave him a tight-lipped smiled.

Once Mr. Ford focused his attention on the rest of the names, Nicole groaned and muttered under her breath. “Whatever, dickhead.” Waverly caught the words and quietly giggled to herself. Nicole stuck the earbud back into her ear and continued drawing, obviously not giving a care in the world about Mr. Ford calling her out.

Nicole stayed quiet for the rest of class, hardly paying attention at all. Waverly actually did pay attention to the lesson and made a mental note to start the reading when she got home. Not doing it put her back and made the lesson somewhat confusing, something that hardly happened with her studies. She asked Timothy a couple of times to explain something she missed and thanked him once the bell for the end of class sounded.

—

 

Fourth period Advanced Placement English passed quickly. The bell for lunch came before Waverly knew it. Chrissy would be waiting for her by the Cafeteria door so she grabbed her bag and hurried out of the classroom. Sure enough, Chrissy was already there once she arrived. 

“God, you take so long to get here.” Chrissy said, moving to stand straight after leaning against the wall.

“Sorry that my class is all of the way across school?”  They made their way into the cafeteria and waited in line for the grotesque school food. Waverly was starving and she hadn’t had time to pack a lunch last night. Gus had asked her to vacuum before bed.

“So how was class with the incredibly scary Nicole Haught?” Chrissy asked as she grabbed a tray and a plate from the lunch counter. Waverly grabbed them as well and continued down the row, lunch ladies plopping food down on her plate as she went.

“Actually, she’s okay. She doesn’t really speak or pay attention. She’s just kinda by herself in the corner of the classroom.”

“Oh so you have been noticing her more, huh?” Waverly blushed. She hadn’t actually realized how much the girl has caught her attention the past week or so.

“I mean, I guess… She’s just kinda hard not to…” Waverly searched for some kind of excuse because she honestly didn’t have a reason as to why she was paying attention Nicole all that much— besides the sketchy fact she has something to do with Doc and her sister.

“Well, I mean she kinda is hot in a ‘terrifying punk delinquent’ way. Did you know that she was arrested a while back? I remember my dad getting a call about her.” Chrissy and Waverly made their way over to one of the back tables and sat down across from each other.

“How do you know that?”

“My dad said something about a case he was working on— I don’t know all of the details of it— but he got a call one day in the car over bluetooth speaker and one of the case officers mentioned how she was in custody. My dad dropped me off at the house after that and went straight to the police station.”

“Huh. Weird.”

“Yup. I’m telling you, you need to be careful around this girl, especially if she has something to do with Doc. It seems _pretty sketch_.” Chrissy pointed her fork at Waverly with emphasis on ‘pretty sketch’ then took a bite of her salad.

“Yeah, I have to interrogate Wynonna on that later,” Waverly muttered more to herself as a reminder.

“Speaking of which,” Chrissy muffled out with a mouthful of salad, “how are Wynonna and Gus? You haven’t spoken much of them lately.” She continued to stab at the lettuce with her fork.

“Wynonna’s still a drunken mess as usual. She’s gotten better about dealing with her emotions sober but it doesn’t take long for her to be right back on the bottle.”

“What about her drug issue? Last I heard from you she was kicking that shit.”

This was hard for Waverly to talk about. It took months for her older sister to finally cope without the need of drugs in her system and to eventually drop the needle altogether.  Her only ‘medication’ to deal without it now was the bitter taste of liquor. She and Gus gave up trying to get her sober from alcohol months ago, knowing it was better than her shooting up heroin. “Yeah,” she finally responded, “she’s off of it. She’s still on Methadone but she’s being prescribed less and less each visit to the clinic. I’m just happy that the withdrawal symptoms are finally fading.” 

“Is she still going to see Doctor Harvey?”

“Yeah. She has her therapy sessions every Thursday now.” _I always have to keep her sober the day before_ , she thought to herself.

“Well, I’m glad she’s still getting help for it. How’s Gus dealing with all of it still?” 

“She’s dealing with it the best she can. She just hates to see Wynonna turn out to be like our addict parents. She’s worried that Wynonna’s going to have a kid someday, lose control of herself, and then lose custody of child the same way our parents lost us.” Waverly was having trouble speaking by this point but Chrissy continued to pry, she always being terrible at knowing when to stop talking.

“Have you heard from them recently?”

“No. Not since Gus became our legal guardian. Last I heard they’re still on the streets somewhere in Chicago,” she paused, visibly trying to control her emotions, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. How’s Nedley?”

Chrissy felt bad but answered anyways, “Dad’s alright. I’m trying to get him to eat less red meat though. With all of the steak he eats, his cholesterol must be through the roof.” 

“How’s your mom? Have you spoken to her lately?”

“Yeah, she called the other day. She’s good. I got to talk to my half-brother Josh. Did you know he’s four now? Mom sent me pictures and he’s the cutest little thing. I’m planning to visit them next summer.” She gushed out in excitement. 

“That’s really great! You better bring me back a souvenir from the coast,” Waverly grinned. She was still upset over the previous conversation but tried to put on her best happy face for Chrissy.

“Of course! I wish you could come along,” she frowned, “You’ve always been good with kids and Josh would love you.”

“I know but you know Gus. She always needs my help at Shorty’s in the summer. Stuck doing inventory, as always.” She sighed at the thought of working in the heater of pub basement all summer.

“Still not working the bar?” 

“Rules are rules. Not until I’m 18.”

“Damn, I was really hoping you could sneak me a free beer.” Chrissy laughed as Waverly nudged her arm from across the table.

—

 

School let out and Nicole made her way towards the abandoned trailer park on the east side of town. She pulled her blue beat up pick up truck  through the rusty gates and parked it next to a worn out tire lying on the ground. Doc would be here any minute.

Nicole waited a few minutes in the front seat of the truck, smoking another Marlboro with her boot-clad feet crossed on the dashboard. By the time she was done with the cigarette, she heard the pink Cadillac come through the gates. Doc pulled up beside her and got out of the car. She proceeded to do the same, throwing the butt of the cigarette onto the gravel and stepping on it. They made their way to the back of their vehicles, meeting in the middle. 

“You’ve got what I need?” 

“I’ve been holding it for you since Friday. What took you so long?” 

“Money’s tight right now but I have it.”

“Good then hand it over.” 

“Sixty bucks for 3 grams? This better be some premium shit.”

“It is. Here.” 

“Cool. See ya, man.” 

“Don’t forget you owe me 20 from the gram you bought off of me the other day, Nicole.” Doc points at her as he makes his way back towards his driver’s side door. Nicole waves him off.

“I’ll get it to you later, dude.” She made her way back into her truck, started it up, and peeled off, leaving a dust cloud in Doc’s direction. He smirked, his moustache tilted upwards, and adjusted his hat.

“Kids these days.” 

—

 

Champ is slumped on the couch when Nicole enters his basement. The front door being left unlocked for her, she slipped her way through the house and downstairs to pay a visit to the boy. He looks up at her expectantly from where he’s watching _The Simpsons_.  

“You have the pot?” he asks, impatiently.

“3 grams, all for you,” Nicole replies sarcastically, making her way towards him. She hands him the small bag. He takes it and eyes it, then pats the cushion next to him. Nicole reluctantly sits down.

“Aww. Don’t be like that. You know I’ll share with my best ganja bro.” He throws his arm over her shoulder to which she grabs it and pushes it back towards him. 

“I’m not your fucking bro. I’m only doing this shit because your dad is the best personal detective in this town and I need some information that he could get ahold of for—” 

“Yeah yeah, don’t bore me with the details. You’ve told me it all before,” Champ reaches for the bong in front of him on the coffee table. 

“So you’ll get him to do it, right? Look into my case?” 

“Yeah, sure. As long as you keep supplying the good shit to me, I’ll deal with my dad looking into the case. Shouldn’t take much since he basically does whatever I ask.” He continued to pack the bowl with a gram. 

 _How nice,_ Nicole thought, _to have a parent that complies to all of your wishes._ She rolled her eyes at the thought of her fucked up home life. 

“So for now,” Champ continues, “you can just watch _The Simpsons_ and smoke a bowl with me. It’s the least you could do since I’m going through all of this trouble with my dad for you.” He lights the bowl and and takes a hit then passes it to Nicole.

“Whatever, asshat,” she mutters and takes a hit as well, needing anything to cope with the unwanted company of Champ Hardy.

“Hey Nicole, you’re into chicks right?”

“Umm, sure.”

“You know who’s like really bangin’?” he didn’t wait for a reply. “Waverly Earp. Damn that girl has a sweet ass.”

 _Great,_ she thought, _now I’ve become one of his surrogate “bros.” Fucking end me._

“What the fuck is up with everyone and this Waverly Earp chick?” Lately it seems everywhere Nicole goes or who she’s with, Waverly is somehow there or connected to what she’s doing. It’s funny that she never really noticed the girl before this year. She only asked Doc if he knew who the girl was because she bared a slight resemblance to another girl she knew, thus learning that Waverly is that specific girl’s sister. It must’ve been the encounter in the bathroom that fate decided to finally tie the brunette into Nicole’s life. She really hoped not because that meant another Earp she had to deal with, and after last time, it’s something she _did not_ look forward to.

“Well, let me tell you a few things about _Waverly Earp_ …”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now you know that Nicole is in fact not a dealer but Doc is! And what kind of deal does she have with Champ? Also there's a little bit of the Earp's backstory for you. Feel free to comment your thoughts and give some kudos! It's very much appreciated. Thank you for all of those who commented and left kudos last chapter. You guys inspire me to keep writing this story because I know there's people who enjoy this concept of a fanfic. Go ahead and share what you think! Constructive criticism is always appreciated for improvement. :)


	3. Break. Broke. Broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT’S ME! I’M BACK! I completely apologize for such a long hiatus. Ya girl is back in school and it’s been kicking my ass so far but I finally got around to finish chapter 3. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. 
> 
> Here’s a little taste of Nicole for you all!
> 
> ALSO BIG SHOUT OUT TO theseblankpages FOR BEING AN EXTRAORDINARY BETA FOR MY TIRED ASS. Whatever mistakes there are, it’s her fault for not catching them. Love you, Arden!  
> ________________

Breakdowns. They’re fucking shitty. Nicole was dealing with quite a few these days, especially when she came home. Now don’t get her wrong, she loved being in solitude, but when she came home? Well let’s just say all hell breaks loose. Break, broke, _broken_. It seems as though that those b-words were the theme for the day.

She came home after a long day of being tested at school by multiple people. It’s been two weeks since she met Champ Hardy in his basement to smoke pot and discuss the deal; nonetheless Champ’s ramblings of Waverly Earp throughout the hour or two she spent there. God he got on her nerves. But it seems that this day got on her nerves just a bit more than that idiot.

As she approached the front door to her house, she heard it. _That_ laugh. She paused and then heard the breaking of a dish, soon after came _that_ laugh again. She pulled out her house key from her back pocket and stuck it in the lock. As soon as she was in the house and the door shut behind her, she tried to rush up the stairs to her bedroom. To do this she had to pass the entry way to the kitchen. She failed to keep quiet and midway up the stairs her mom called her back down.

“Nicole? Is that you?”

Nicole sighed and slumped back down the stairs to the kitchen doorway. “Yup.” She looked straight passed her mom to the man standing behind her. God why was he looking at her that way?

“How was school, hunny?” She shifted her eyes back to her mom and leaned her head against the side panel.

“Fine, I guess. What is he doing here?” She didn’t mean for it to come out so harsh. Actually she did. She didn’t like her mom’s new boyfriend at all. He’s literally the most boring guy she’s ever met and it seems like the only way he felt important to anyone was sticking his ugly wire rimmed glasses into people’s business. Plus his beard was grotesque in her opinion. She didn’t like him and he didn’t seem too keen on her either. _Good_.

Her mother sighed, “Robert is going to stay for dinner.” She didn’t like how her mom referred to him as “Robert.” She thought that the hilariously ridiculous nickname of “Bobo” that she made up suited him much better.

Nicole peered off to the side to see a broken glass plate lying on the ground. “Seems like he’s doing a great job in helping you set up.” She rolled her eyes and turned her back on them to walk towards the stairs.

“Nicole…” She heard her mom call out.

“It’s okay, Roseanne. Just let her go.” She laughed scornfully at Bobo’s attempt at trying to be understanding. Since he’s been with her mom he’s been nothing but judgemental of her, like it’s any of his business to be. She didn’t mean to upset her mom, she just couldn’t stand being in the same room as him. Mom never needed a boyfriend before so why does she need such a boring, ugly, judgemental bastard of one now? Fuck Robert Del Rey.

She slammed the door as she entered her room and flopped into bed. Self-medication was a must before she had another one of her infamous breakdowns. But where the fuck was her stash? She knew she must’ve hidden a blunt somewhere next to her bed but as she felt down on the floor, hand wandering underneath her bed, she didn’t feel shit. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. She turned her head and groaned, then attempted to kick off her clunky black Doc Martens. No such luck. She sat up frustrated and pulled them off, throwing them across the room. One hit the wall with a hollowed thud. Nicole flipped off the wall at the noise.

Literally everything was frustrating her today and she was sure it had nothing to do with PMS or anything. She already had a visit from Aunt Flo this month. She slumped back into the mattress and reflected on her day at hand.

First thing in the morning, as she was about to pour herself a lovely bowl of her favorite cereal, she opened her cabinet and realized that someone ate the rest of her Cocoa Pebbles, and that _someone_ was definitely not her mom because she knows not to mess with the only food that keeps her daughter sane in the mornings. Reason number one-thousand two-hundred and twenty-two as to why she does not like that Bobo sonuvabitch.

To continue on with her very shitty start, once she got to school she couldn’t find a parking spot for Roger, her big ass junk trunk whom she loves very much. Once she finally did and walked into school, she ran into Principal Carnegie. Of course he wanted to go off on a tangent in his office after he dragged her in there. He first started off with her grades, stating that she’s nearly failing every single class except English and Chemistry. Then he goes on to state about her poor participation in school activities and how maybe, just maybe, if she tried getting herself out there a little more, she can meet positive influences who encourage her to do better in school. He even bothered to bring up none-other than Waverly-fuckin-Earp as a supposed “positive influence at this school with the highest GPA in the Junior class.” The dude needs to chill. It’s only been a couple of weeks of the year so far.

After leaving his office and into the rest of her classes throughout the day, it seemed like every goddamn teacher was so down to test her knowledge. Every time each of them would ask a question to the class, they would either look directly at her or hiss out her name out of nowhere. She hated school. She really did. To make matters worse, she ran into Champ in the hallway and asked him about what they agreed to. He made excuses left and right and it seemed as though he hadn’t got anything part of their deal done. What a lazy bastard. She’s almost thinking about cutting him from the drug supply for a week if he doesn’t get his shit together anytime soon. She also ran into Waverly Earp in the parking lot at the end of the school day. What a surprise. She was wearing a nice form-fitting floral romper since it was a little warm out. Nicole couldn’t help to think she looked damn beautiful but she stopped from drooling all over herself at the girl’s looks once the brunette started talking to her. She’s pretty sure Waverly said hi and asked her how she was— which was quite random really— but all Nicole could seemingly get out was a “Fine, bye,” and walked away. _Earps are dangerous._ _Earps are dangerous._

And now she’s here, in her room, bored as hell. Of course she has homework to occupy her time but when did she ever do homework? Fuck that.

She thought of Waverly Earp and her little black romper some more. She couldn’t help being somewhat attracted to the girl she barely knew, especially when Champ profusely made her sound like a goddess. But nonetheless, the girl was a stranger by all means so truly the only attraction that exists is physical. Besides, she made it a rule to stay away from the Earp girls. She doesn’t have the audacity to trust the younger one thanks to her older sister.

Just then she heard her mother call up the stairs. “Nicole, you’re coming to church with us tonight!”

Fuck. She forgot it was Wednesday.

Every Wednesday Bobo and her mom head to church for the night. It didn’t start happening until Bobo came along. Roseanne was never really a spiritual person but she allowed to make adjustments to her lifestyle due to her idea of “sacrificing to make things work.” Nicole just downright thought it was appeasement before Bobo took over the whole damn house, just like Nazi Germany took over Czechoslovakia.

She only promised to go to church with Mom this week because she was griping about how they never felt like a family anymore. Nicole obviously felt bad and went along with her mother’s request to go to church with them.

An atheist in The Purgatory Church of Christ. How ironic.  
—

Waverly flipped through the magazine she was reading. She got home to an empty house and made her way down to her room for a little peace and quiet. She’s had two tests already this week and was over-thinking about her potential grades. She does that a lot— stress about grades when there’s a high possibility she’s going to get a good grade. Wynonna typically gets annoyed by her whining quite frequently and tells her to “go chill the fuck out.” Today, for once, Waverly was taking her sister’s advice. The moment her head hit her pillow, she felt at bliss.

Only that she couldn’t take a damn nap.

Her mind was still reeling with the questions to her stupid pre-calc test she took today and she just couldn’t shut her brain up. _Stupid cosine_. She grabbed a magazine off of her nightstand which she had placed there last week when Wynonna threw it at her from the doorway after she retrieved it from the mail. It was _Cosmopolitan_. She had subscribed to their mailing list back when she was 14 and barely even a freshman. Her inspiration for signing up? She watched _Legally Blonde_ for the first time and felt if Elle Woods read something like _Cosmo_ and still go to Harvard, so can she.

Gus had a tizzy over it the first time she discovered the magazine in the mail and realized her niece was using her allowance for the damn subscription but she got over it eventually. She figured that since Waverly was in high school now, it would be a matter of time that she would know the specifics of sex. Unfortunately for Waverly, this lead to a very awkward “the birds and the bees” talk with Gus. Waverly still cringes thinking back on it.

She set down the magazine— after being potentially bored with the heterosexualness of it all— and closed her eyes once more. Wynonna would be home any second, and soon after so would Gus. She could feel it. She relished in the quiet household until she heard the the front door. Wynonna. She knew it was her by the sound of her boots on the hollow wooden floor.

“Waverly!” Wynonna yelled through the house.

“What?!”

Wynonna appeared in the doorway and leaned up against the frame. “Why the hell does it stink in this house?”

“I don’t smell anything.”

“It smells like a monkey’s ass in here.”

“How do you know what a monkey’s ass smells like?”

“That is a secret I will never tell. Anyways can you make dinner? Gus sent me a text when I was on my way home from Doc’s. She won’t be home until 5:15. She’s stuck cleaning up the bar because some dumbass group of hillbillies came in and made the joint a continuation of the O.K. Corral. Gus said beer mugs were flying across the damn room.” She smirked, obviously imagining the sight of a bunch of hillbillies being wacko drunk off their asses.

“Wait why do I have to make dinner so early?”

“Because Gus is forcing us to head to church after she comes home. She told us the other night, remember? Something about Pastor Dolls breathing down her neck about not coming as much anymore since Uncle Curtis passed.”

Uncle Curtis died of a heart attack when Waverly was in 6th grade. It was hard on them for a while afterwards but eventually the three of them became closer because of the whole thing. Gus and Wynonna hardly ever fought anymore after that until Wynonna started using. That became the next obstacle the three of them had to face. It just seemed like curveball after curveball.

“Anyways,” Wynonna continued, “how was school?”

“Boring. Stressful. All of the above.”

“Yeah, I hated high school too. It gets better after junior year.”

“No it doesn’t.”

“No it doesn’t but I did skip most of senior year so…”

“Yeah and that’s why you didn’t walk during graduation because your attendance was horrific.”

“Still graduated though!” She placed her index finger up to make her point. Waverly just smiled and rolled her eyes. Her sister was a doof but you could appreciate her persistence at times.

“Whatever. Anyways, what do you want for dinner?”

“I’m feelin’ some dinosaur chicken nuggets.”

“Unhealthy freezer food it is.”

—

 _That’s a giant ass Jesus_. Nicole stared up at the humongous cement Messiah that was imbedded at the very top of the church. The dude had his arms spread out as though forgiving the universe for all of the “fuck you’s” that Nicole had spewed into it.

Directing her gaze from the Lord Almighty, she faced the giant wooden doors. _Such a stereotypical church_. The building from the outside looked like it could be 20 million years old. Purgatory could be a pretty godless place when it came to updating and repairing old buildings. Hell, even the shitty car garage down by Main was even fixed up real nice. Nicole almost felt bad for the poor abandoned building in front of her. Almost.

She didn’t exactly hate church— or religion even— but just the idea of having to conform to “rules” and change oneself completely just didn’t appeal to her idea of fun. Sure, there could possibly be a God. She wasn’t one of those atheists that was totally against the idea but she was more of a “see it to believe it” type of girl. If the Son of God wanted to magically appear in front of her and state “Nicole I am Jesus, and no you’re not on an acid trip, it’s actually me,” then maybe, just maybe, she will believe that there is a God. For the time being, she just didn’t think so. Science was just kind of her go to when solving the mysteries of life. That and fate. She was sure fate was a petty bastard who liked to destroy her life.

Sighing, Nicole entered through the doors and into the corridor, right after her mom and Bobo the Clown. The inside of the church was relatively nicer than the outside but you could still tell it had some major damage control that needed to happen. It was clean of course, but the pews in the auditorium area were about as old as the church and the blue, slightly greenish wallpaper seriously needed to be changed out. The carpet had a few stains here and there and the instruments on the stage were falling apart. Nicole could’ve sworn the well used drum set was about 50 years old. The place really needed some love and affection, stat.

Nicole followed her mom to the left middle pew and sat right on the end, next to the window. There was hardly any light coming through it and Nicole hoped that the night would come quickly so she could just go home and sleep.

Hardly anyone was around besides the church band members and the pastor (though she spotted Xavier Dolls) who were slowly making their way up on the stage. They were all fairly old men. She recognized the pastor to be Xavier Doll’s dad because he showed up in the office to pick up his son from school one day while Nicole was in there for ditching one too many times. She got her balls busted by Principal Carnegie that day. What a prick.

Anyways, the band started to play something soft and mellow as the pastor started to talk, his large mustache moving every which way his mouth moved. It was really rather all boring her and was putting her to sleep at the same time so Nicole shut her eyes and dozed off, hardly listening to anything that was being said— that is until the sound of doors being abruptly opened resonated through the room which briefly quieted Pastor Dolls. Nicole averted her attention towards them as none other than Waverly Earp, Wynonna Earp, and some old lady with them bounded in as well. Thanks fate.

The three of them quickly made their way into the back pew diagonal to Nicole as the pastor resumed talking. She could just barely hear Wynonna say something about burnt chicken nuggets as the old lady tried to shush her while Waverly just glared at her sister. All of a sudden, Waverly’s gaze shifted in Nicole’s direction. _Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck._

Nicole made a 180 in her seat and faced the front, leaning as far down as she could go, hoping her messy ass hair would do her justice and hide her face. She kinda just stared at the little carvings in the pew in front of her, especially at a particular one that resembled something of an eye— like she was being watched. How ironic. Her life was just one big joke.

She didn’t really care as much to be seen by Waverly but if Wynonna had noticed where her sister was staring, then she would be fucked. She didn’t like Wynonna in the least bit since what she did to Nicole. She’s pretty sure Wynonna wouldn’t approach her even if she did see her but even then Nicole didn’t like to take any chances.

_Come on fate, don’t be a dickhead this time around._

—

Nicole hid for the rest of the service which gained a few odd glances from her mother but sufficed no comments.

Once the band finished their last worship song for the night— which, to her dismay, Nicole had to come out of her hiding spot and stand for— she rushed to the doors without stopping. She nearly tripped over the bumped up rug on her way out, but she caught herself and basically flew into the night air. She didn’t even wait for her mom and Bobo.

Once outside, she relaxed. But then the fates fucked her over— again. She really should have expected it.

Waverly Earp made her way right through those doors and bounded up to Nicole like she couldn’t even tell Nicole was mentally prepared to ram her head into the wall behind her and break it into a million pieces.

“I knew that was you in there! I mean who else has red hair in Purgatory?” Waverly kind of remarked more to herself than to Nicole.

“Yeah hi, Earp.” Nicole looked anywhere but at the smaller girl in front of her

“My name is Waverly, you know.”

“I know.”

“Um, so, anyways… I just wanted to say hi I guess? Like I know we don’t really know each other and this is totally weird of me but you’re honestly just so mysterious and I— oh my god Waverly shut up…” Nicole finally looked down at the girl and smirked at the obviously weirdly nervous Earp girl in front of her.

“Mysterious, huh?” Oh my god Nicole, shut up!

“Yeah, uh so anyways…” She seemed to be thinking carefully as to what to say next without word vomiting until Wynonna and the old woman came out of the building. “Oh, I better be going. See you around, I guess?” Nicole almost felt bad for her. Waverly genuinely seemed like she wanted to slap herself in the face at that moment as she started walking towards Wynonna and Gus. Nicole watched her go until she noticed someone else was watching her as well. Wynonna.

“Nice to see you, Haught.” The older Earp called over which gained a questioning look from Waverly.

_Well fuck._

_Just smile and wave, Nicole. Just smile and wave._

The smile was obviously forced but she couldn’t help it. The fates just loved to fuck her over.

She watched as the Earp family left and in which finally her mom appeared with Bobo behind her.

“Sorry, hunny. I got caught up talking to Pastor Dolls,” her mom spoke as she rummaged through her purse for the car keys.

“It’s fine. Can we just go home? I’m tired.”

__

Nicole stumbled up the stairs into her room, not even bothering to turn on the light.

Big mistake.

She tripped over her mirror leaning against the wall and watched as it fell hard to the ground, face first, and shattered into an infinite amount of glass shards.

She stepped over the mess, accidentally cutting her leg where her pants were rolled up with a large shard that was sticking up.

She watched the cut bleed until she fell face first onto her bed and screamed.

Break. Broke. Broken.

She’s not where she’s supposed to be. 


End file.
